News

Jockey severs spine during race at Golden Gate Fields

24-year-old known in Northern California horseracing community

A 24-year-old jockey is in critical but stable condition at Highland Hospital after severing his spinal cord in a fall during a race at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley on Sunday, track physician Dr. David Seftel said Tuesday.

Michael Martinez was riding Fair 'n Warmer, a 3-year-old filly, in the fifth race on Sunday when he was thrown from the horse and the horse fell on top of him, Seftel said.

The fall shattered three thoracic vertebrae, and Martinez also suffered brain hemorrhaging, fractured ribs, and had bleeding in both lungs. He is paralyzed from the waist down, according to Seftel.

The doctor it was the "worst injury we've seen" in at least the past decade at the racetrack.

"But this is a young man who is very strong, and despite all his injuries, it's probable that he will pull through," Seftel said.